What Philosophy Can Do
Wherever what is being debated is logical rather than factual, discussion is a good method of eliciting truth. Suppose some one maintains, for example, that democracy is good, but persons holding certain opinions should not be allowed to vote, we may convict him of inconsistency, and prove to him that at least one of his two assertions must be more
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Philosophers David Hume and William James both understood the smallness of the individual human mind compared to the vast expanse of nature and society, and they emphasized the irrationalities of the human mind when facing the daily problems put before us. If we are building principles for politics, we need approaches which are relatively fortified
... See moreThis is why rationalists put such a heavy premium on the paradoxical-seeming claim that a belief is only really worthwhile if you could, in principle, be persuaded to believe otherwise.
Eliezer Yudkowsky • Rationality
Indeed, in the current world of accepted knowledge one can’t even know the truth of a moral theory or principle, much less a specific rule. You could never grade someone for holding Utilitarianism or Kantianism to be true or false. One can only know about such theories and principles, and think about them in more or less clever ways. You can bright
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